How to Think Like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius (2019)
Donald Robertson (1972)
294 pages
In How to Think Like a Roman Emperor, Donald Robertson uses the education and life experiences of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius to provide an engaging introduction to the ancient philosophy of Stoicism and how its elements have informed the modern techniques of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Based on this history, he reveals how incorporating a Stoic outlook into our own thinking can positively influence our daily experience.
Throughout his telling, Robertson references classical texts, including from Stoic philosophers, Roman historians, and correspondence between Marcus and several of his key tutors. Not surprisingly, Marcus’ own Meditations plays a central role. More a collection of reminders to himself than a narrative intended for a wider audience, these writings reflect Marcus’ understanding of Stoicism as a philosophy of life and how he sought to apply it to guide his daily behavior. (My review linked to at right.)
Robertson combines these references and his own professional experience as a cognitive-behavioral psychotherapist into an eminently readable mixture of history and science. Over the course of the book, he introduces key aspects of Stoic philosophy, shows how Marcus understood and applied them in ruling the empire, and then provides straightforward steps from Stoicism-infused CBT that people can employ in their daily lives to strengthen their own resilience in challenging situations.
The following quote both reveals Robertson’s approach, as well as introduces one of the central concepts of Stoicism: to think and speak about things that happen to us objectively.
Marcus tends to refer to this way of viewing events as entailing the separation of our value judgements from external events. Cognitive therapists have likewise, for many decades, taught their clients the famous quotation from the [Stoic philosopher] Epictetus: “It’s not things that upset us but our judgements about things.” … This sort of technique is referred to as “cognitive distancing” in CBT, because it requires sensing the separation or distance between our thoughts and external reality. (77)
This concept of cognitive distancing reappears throughout the text in a variety of applications of Stoic teachings (and corresponding techniques in CBT) to address events that can impact our thinking. The goal is to avoid catastrophizing, in our words and thoughts, “by practicing deliberately describing events more objectively and in less emotional terms.” Robertson notes, for example, that
Marcus follows Epictetus’s guidance when he reminds himself [in Meditations 8.49] that he should tell himself someone has insulted him in a matter-of-fact way, but not add the value judgement that it has done him any harm. … stick with the facts and don’t unnecessarily extrapolate from them. (72)
Many of the techniques Robertson presents constitute approaches to achieving such objectivity. Thus, he describes the Stoic idea of “contemplating the sage, in which Stoics would ‘imagine a role model whose strengths you’ve identified coping with a challenging situation. [They] asked themselves, ‘What would Socrates or Zeno do?’” (102) We can apply this in our daily lives, Robertson suggests, by bringing to mind in a difficult moment our own sage: a friend, a well-known person, or even Marcus Aurelius himself, based on what we have learned about his approach to the crises he faced. Indeed, Marcus can be a good choice, as few of us are likely to face, as he did, murderous and conniving courtiers, barbarian invasions or a civil war (this last maybe not so unlikely anymore, I suppose – though I lay myself open to the charge of catastrophizing…); if the techniques worked for Marcus in those situations, then there can be hope for us to successfully apply them in our more mundane daily challenges by reminding ourselves how Marcus would have handled it.
One helpful distinction the Stoics made, according to Robertson, was between our initial, instinctive response to an event and our subsequent reaction after having a moment to consider it rationally.
Stoics acknowledged that our initial emotional reactions are often automatic. We should accept these as natural, view them with indifference, and accept them without a struggle rather than try to suppress them. On the other hand, we should learn to suspend the voluntary thoughts we have in response to these initial feelings and the situation that triggered them. In the case of worrying, perhaps surprisingly, that’s usually just a matter of noticing we’re doing it and stopping. (210)
Such a realistic attitude toward a person’s behavior, distinguishing between the essentially animal reaction that arises before we can marshal conscious consideration of the event, and how we then go on to thoughtfully deal with it provides the space for having some grace for ourselves and others in difficult situations. It reminds me a bit of a description of success in meditation I once heard: it’s not in never getting lost in thought – it’s in being able to quickly recognize that one’s lost in thought and coming back to the moment.
For me, having previously read Marcus’ Meditations, but otherwise not much about Stoicism and only a bit about CBT, How to Think Like a Roman Emperor provided an accessible introduction to both. One comes away with a history of Marcus’ life, including how he came to understand and translate Stoic philosophy into effective behaviors he could apply in the face of the many challenges he encountered. And, by tying the philosophical principles of Stoicism to the techniques of Cognitive-Behavior Therapy, Robertson provides readers with concrete ways to build such resilience into our own lives.
Other notes and information:
More quotes from this book, including descriptions of other Stoic techniques
As someone who enjoys learning about history, learning more from Robertson’s book about Marcus’ life and times was a pleasure in itself.
Your first step is to write down the virtues exhibited by someone you respect. Listing the qualities you most admire in another person, just as Marcus does in the first book of The Meditations, is a simple and power exercise.
Have you read this book, others by this author, or even similar ones by other authors? I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts.
Other of my book reviews: FICTION Bookshelf and NON-FICTION Bookshelf
